


Marked

by Yana



Series: Marked and Pured [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Apocalypse, Demon Dean Winchester, Heavy Angst, M/M, Mark of Cain, Season/Series 09, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-23
Updated: 2014-03-23
Packaged: 2018-01-16 18:59:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1358380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yana/pseuds/Yana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel has to kill the man with the Mark of Cain before he starts the Apocalypse. But he doesn't know who has it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Marked

**Author's Note:**

> What I think would happen in the Season 9 final. More or less a reversed crypt scene.

The mission was clear. He had to kill the one with the Mark of Cain to prevent the second coming of the Apocalypse. The angels tracked down the one with the Mark. They couldn’t tell who it was, just that it was a man but not Cain himself.

Castiel sighed and looked at the warehouse he was standing in front of. Previously that day he had called Dean.

“Is that so…?” Dean’s voice had had a strange edge he hadn’t been able to put anywhere.

“I want you to stay away from that place” Castiel had said. “That man is dangerous. The Mark of Cain makes its owner a blood lusting abomination. I don’t want you or Sam to get hurt.”

Dean had stayed silent for a while then a sigh had been heard.

“I hope you would kill that son of a bitch.”

“Me too.”

They had hung up and after hours of their conversation Castiel still couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was not right. The stolen Grace swirled uncomfortably in his body when he recalled the emptiness of Dean’s voice. There was something he wasn’t telling him and he didn’t like it. It meant Dean had done something for the good cause that wasn’t the right way. Like last time when Gadreel possessed Sam.

Castiel put aside the thought. No matter how much he wanted to help Dean, he had to finish his job first.

For hours now he was observing the building, but he hadn’t seen anything moving. He was afraid that the man somehow left the building without him noticing. But when he concentrated, he could feel the darkness radiating from the Mark. At times like this the stolen Grace twitched painfully and Castiel wanted to scream, wanted to curl up into a ball and cut the foreign force out from his body. But without it he wouldn’t be able to kill the man with the Mark. He wouldn’t be able to defeat Metatron and take back his own Grace.

So he tolerated the pain. What was this pain compared to what he had done to the other angels? His sisters and brothers? This pain was his punishment for his stupidity.

As the night fall on the city the time came to finish his job. Castiel took a deep breath and walked in.

Inside it was surprisingly well lit, like he was expected. Castiel frowned. He made sure he was undetectable. The man shouldn’t have known he was coming.

The angel walked deeper into the warehouse. He didn’t have to use the Grace in his body to detect the Mark. The darkness covered everything. It radiated from the walls and the air. His eardrums popped with every step as the power became heavier. He was getting closer. The angle blade appeared in Castiel’s hand and he prepared himself to the task. The owner of the Mark was stronger than him. He had to surprise him. Sneak behind his back and stab…

“Hello, Cas.”

Castiel jumped and turned to his right. Not far away from him in a dark corner a man was standing with his back turned to him. He immediately recognised him. He put him together after all.

“Dean! What are you doing here!”

Dean turned a little but Castiel still didn’t see his face.

“I was waiting for you.”

Castiel was furious as he walked closer to him.

“I forbid you to come! That man is dan…” The angel stopped after a few steps. What he saw was… horrible. The soul of the Righteous Man was tainted with the darkest of blacks. Castiel felt his heart aching with thousands of pains at the sight.

“Dean… Why…?”

“I had to do it, Cas.”

“There must have been an other…”

“No!” Dean shouted and turned around. “There wasn’t! This was the only way I could pay back what I did!”

Castiel stepped closer.

"You didn't do anything."

“Yes, I did!” Even in the shadows he could see Dean’s face twisting into something not human. Castiel stopped and had a sudden urge to step back but he fought down the feeling. “Kevin died because of me!”

“Gadreel killed him.”

“Because I let him into Sam’s body!”

Dean angrily rubbed his eyes and looked away. Castiel understood what he was feeling right now. Being the source of everything bad without any intention was the worst. They walked on the same road.

“It’s going to be better, Dean. We’ll…”

But Castiel stopped when he remembered why he was here in the first place. He had to kill the one with the Mark of Cain. He had to kill Dean.

Dean licked his lower lip and stepped out from the shadows. His eyes were black like a demon’s, no traces of the green. Still, Castiel saw the pain and sadness in the dark pits of his orbs. He held the First Blade in his right hand. Higher on his arm, where the sleeve of his shirt was rolled up, the Mark itself was seen. It was smouldering with a deep red colour.

“Do it, Cas.”

Castiel slowly shook his head.

“No.”

“Damn it, Cas! You said it yourself! You kill me, you stop the Apocalypse!”

“We’ll find an other…”

“CASTIEL!”

The blood in Castiel’s veins froze. It wasn’t Dean’s voice. Just like his eyes, it was a demon’s too. With every step the other man took towards him, the fear grew in him. It was new. He was never afraid of Dean. He feared for his safety and wellbeing, but he never felt fear because of him.

“You were right Cas” Dean said with a low voice. “I’m a blood lusting abomination. In the past few weeks I killed many. Not just monsters. I took the life of humans too. And do you know why’s that so funny? Because I liked it. I liked stabbing them. Spilling their blood and feeling the warmth flowing down my arm.”

Castiel shook his head in horror and took a step back. He hadn’t meant what he had said. He hadn’t had any intention to hurt Dean. He hadn’t even known it was Dean who he was talking about.

Dean stopped when he saw the fear on Castiel’s face. He looked down at the blade in his hand.

“You know… it talks to me. Not too loud. It’s just a whisper in the back of my head but… It’s really convincing. It tells me things about itself and things I have to do… You know what it’s telling me now?” Dean looked up at the angel. “It needs blood to free _him_. But not any blood. The blood of the angel who saved me from Hell.”

The human heart that was still beating in his chest skipped a beat. Castiel’s eyes widened as he heard Dean’s words.

“ _Him_?” he asked. Who was he? Who was Dean talking about? He feared what the answer would be.

“I can’t stop my body, Cas.” Dean’s voice was empty but Castiel somehow felt the pain behind it. “If you don’t do something before I get to you, I’ll kill you.”

Castiel bit his lower lip and stopped. The human emotions worked strongly inside him. He was trembling like on the coldest nights of his short human life. As an angel he shouldn’t have felt cold, but he felt like the ice in his veins spread through his body and froze every cell of it. Meanwhile his eyes were burning, especially the corners of them.

But he braced himself. If he had to die from the hands of Dean he wouldn’t do anything against it. He wouldn’t hurt Dean. So he took a deep breath and slowly started approaching the man.

Dean frowned at this.

“Cas…”

“Dean. I was the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition.”

“Stop it, Cas…”

“I was the one who put back together your body and soul piece by piece with my Grace.”

“Damn it, Cas!” Dean’s hands trembled and his legs didn’t move as smoothly as they had before.

Castiel smiled at Dean sadly. He recalled every memory of him. How his soul had reached out for him in Hell. How he had looked at him the first time they met in person. He recalled every conversation, every gaze, every touch. The words, the prayers, the hug, every ‘need you’s…

“You broke the connection between me and Naomi. How can I kill you?”

Dean stopped and looked at Castiel with widened eyes. Castiel stopped too. A few meters separated them, a greater distance than they were used to.

“What…?” His voice was barely heard.

“You broke the connection, Dean.” The angel repeated. Somehow this confession lightened his soul. He was sure now he could face death peacefully. “Thank you for everything, Dean. You may kill me now.”

Castiel looked at Dean one last time, closed his eyes and waited. He hoped when everything ends one day, Dean would have that so called ‘apple pie life’ and he would get to heaven. Dean was a good man, he deserved a place there. And maybe… Maybe they would meet there. They would put everything bad behind them, every fight and betrayer and they would be not ‘human’ or ‘angel’. Just ‘Dean’ and ‘Cas’. Just two souls in eternity.

Castiel waited for the pain but it didn’t come. The angel slowly opened his eyes and looked up.

Dean didn’t move an inch. He still stared at Castiel with wide eyes but something changed. Something big changed. His eyes were green again and the two sides of his face were wet with tears. His lips were trembling, his shoulders were shaking.

“Cas…”

Dean gained back the control over his body. He was himself again. A smile grew on his face and Castiel was about to say something when he noticed Dean turning the blade in his hand. He pointed it towards his stomach.

“I’m so sorry, Cas…”

Castiel was so shocked by this he didn’t react in time.

“Dean, NO!”

When he jumped to him the blade was already at his stomach.

But the most unexpected thing happened. Someone grabbed Dean’s hand and stopped the blade just before it was stabbed into Dean. Both Castiel and Dean looked at the newcomer with rounded eyes.

“Adam?” asked Dean.

“Michael?” said Castiel at the same time.

Michael watched the blade in Dean’s hands then his eyes travelled higher and settled on the man’s arm. Without any warning he gripped the arm tightly. Between his fingers light spread in the room and Dean’s painful yell echoed in the building.

The voice of the hunter snapped Castiel out of his shock and he rushed to the two. He knew he was no match against Michael not even if he had his own Grace. But he couldn’t let the archangel kill Dean. He had to save him. Even if it would mean his death, he had to try.

But Michael didn’t kill Dean. When Castiel stepped next to him, Michael let go of Dean’s hand and arm who dropped the blade and fell into Castiel’s arms. The sudden weight against him made him fell on his knees but he made extra care not to cause more pain to Dean. Dean was unconscious but the deep frown on his face indicated great pain.

“What did you do?” Castiel asked Michael.

“I pured his soul from the Mark. He is my true vessel. I don’t want any demonic power inside him.”

Castiel took a shaky breath and sighed with relief. The Mark was gone. Dean wasn’t the man with the Mark of Cain anymore. He was safe.

But that relief was short lived when he realised who was standing in front of him.

“How…”

“The angels freed me. I killed Metatron and brought this.”

Michael dropped a little glass container on the hard ground. The bluish white glowing smoke-like matter that was sealed inside it escaped and flew into Castiel. Castiel didn’t have time to react. His stolen Grace was pushed out from his body by his original Grace. Castiel was burning inside but the only thing he could think about at that moment was Dean’s safety. He feared he would open his eyes and the sight of his true form would burn his eyes out. Or that this closeness to him would hurt him or worse, kill him.

As suddenly as it started it ended. The familiarity of his Grace spread through his body. It gave him safety and strength. Now he would be able to protect everyone who was important to him.

“You know” Michael started “I should kill you right now. You killed Raphael, played God, let the Leviathan into this world, shut down Heaven. You deserve to die. But you can do something for me.”

Michael leaned down a little. He towered above Castiel but the angel didn’t get scared of his brother.

“Heal him, Castiel” Michael ordered with a low voice. “Heal him because one day I’ll take what belongs to me. And then I would kill you.”

And with that Michael was gone with a flutter of wings.

Castiel didn’t move for a long while. He needed to process everything. Dean had the Mark of Cain, Michael was freed by angels, he killed Metatron, he pured Dean’s soul, gave back Castiel’s Grace and now he wants him to heal the hunter. There were many things he didn’t understand and he needed to discuss it with Dean and Sam.

Dean’s low but painful groan pulled Castiel out from his thoughts. He quickly looked down at the man and his arm. Where the Mark was used to be, there was now a palm shaped burn mark. Some unknown feeling gripped Castiel’s heart at the sight and he unconsciously moved his hand to Dean’s other arm and placed it where his own hand had burnt into his skin. The burn was long gone but still… It meant much to Castiel. It was the evidence that he raised the Righteous Man from Hell and with that their fates were connected.

Castiel lowered his head and buried his face into Dean’s hair. He was alive. He was safe. For now at least but if it depended on him Castiel would protect Dean till his last breath.

From the distance footsteps were heard and soon somebody stopped next to them. Castiel didn’t have to look up to know it was Sam.

“He’s alive.”

A sigh left Sam’s lips and he kneeled down.

“What happened? Dean called me an hour ago to say goodbye.”

Castiel straightened himself and told him everything. The Mark of Cain, his mission, Dean almost killing himself, then Michael. Sam listened to him with eyes that became darker with fear and worry by every passing minute.

“If Michael is out of the Cage, then…” he started but wasn’t able to finish.

“It seems.” Castiel looked down at Dean again. “But I don’t understand… How did the angels open the Cage if it was supposed to be opened by Dean with my blood?”

“We’ll have plenty of time thinking about it but now we have to go back to the bunker.”

Castiel agreed. They had to return to the bunker. But did they really have plenty of time? He wasn’t so sure about that.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the rushed ending. I'm not very good with ending paragraphs.
> 
> Second part coming soon.


End file.
